/metcalf-on-music Steve Metcalf has been writing about the musical life of this region, and the wider world, for more than 30 years. For 21 of those years, he was the full-time staff music critic of The Hartford Courant. During that period, via the L.A. Times/Washington Post news service, his reviews, profiles and feature stories appeared in 400 newspapers worldwide.He is also the former assistant dean and director of instrumental music at The Hartt School, where he founded and curated the Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series. He is currently Director of the Presidents' College at the University of Hartford. Steve is also keyboardist emeritus of the needlessly loud rock band Duke and the Esoterics.Reach him at spmetcalf55@gmail.com. en-US Copyright Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:59:37 GMT /arts-and-culture/2018-07-02/tanglewood-celebrates-leonard-bernsteins-100th-birthday Leonard Bernstein’s ghost has hung discreetly around the grounds of Tanglewood for the past 28 years, ever since the maestro died in the fall of 1990.This… Mon, 02 Jul 2018 16:59:37 GMT /arts-and-culture/2018-07-02/tanglewood-celebrates-leonard-bernsteins-100th-birthday Steve Metcalf /arts-and-culture/2017-05-31/waiting-for-sgt-pepper My sophomore year at college ended on Thursday, June 1, 1967. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t remember the date, but it’s now a part of history: it was the day The… Wed, 31 May 2017 11:15:00 GMT /arts-and-culture/2017-05-31/waiting-for-sgt-pepper Steve Metcalf /arts-and-culture/2016-12-13/a-grizzled-music-critics-christmas-mixtape Over the years, I’ve scrambled to think of ways to write about Christmas music.Overrated, Underrated, Unfairly Neglected, Ten Best, 12 Worst, Pop,… Tue, 13 Dec 2016 09:00:00 GMT /arts-and-culture/2016-12-13/a-grizzled-music-critics-christmas-mixtape Steve Metcalf /arts-and-culture/2016-10-27/what-the-rev-believed-music-makes-us-better Gary Miller wasn’t primarily a musician; he was a clergyman.As many thousands of you around here know, Gary was the senior minister at Asylum Hill… Thu, 27 Oct 2016 08:00:00 GMT /arts-and-culture/2016-10-27/what-the-rev-believed-music-makes-us-better Steve Metcalf /arts-and-culture/2016-10-14/ten-reflections-on-bob-dylan-our-newest-nobel-laureate Bob Dylan's own reaction to winning the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature isn't known yet. In his first public appearance following the news, a couple of… Fri, 14 Oct 2016 17:05:04 GMT /arts-and-culture/2016-10-14/ten-reflections-on-bob-dylan-our-newest-nobel-laureate Steve Metcalf /arts-and-culture/2016-10-03/the-music-ticker-hso-garmany-baez The new arts season is upon us, and two of the area’s premier music institutions get started this week.The Hartford Symphony Orchestra opens the new year… Mon, 03 Oct 2016 18:12:12 GMT /arts-and-culture/2016-10-03/the-music-ticker-hso-garmany-baez Steve Metcalf /arts-and-culture/2016-09-19/how-music-works-we-love-what-we-love Thanks to the restless and inquiring mind of Colin McEnroe, many of us have been recently thinking about the following questions: Is the rock era over?… Mon, 19 Sep 2016 18:20:18 GMT /arts-and-culture/2016-09-19/how-music-works-we-love-what-we-love Steve Metcalf /arts-and-culture/2016-09-08/cowpoke-hit-parade-the-great-tv-western-theme-songs The death of Hugh O’Brian last week has put me in a nostalgic mood for the great TV Westerns of yesteryear.O’Brian, as readers of a certain age will… Thu, 08 Sep 2016 14:38:34 GMT /arts-and-culture/2016-09-08/cowpoke-hit-parade-the-great-tv-western-theme-songs Steve Metcalf /arts-and-culture/2016-09-01/the-music-ticker-arts-summit-at-uhart-and-new-seasons-for-local-groups Arts administrators don’t often get the chance to communally reflect on their precarious profession, but on Saturday, September 17, the University of… Thu, 01 Sep 2016 17:39:26 GMT /arts-and-culture/2016-09-01/the-music-ticker-arts-summit-at-uhart-and-new-seasons-for-local-groups Steve Metcalf /arts-and-culture/2016-08-18/a-radical-fix-for-classical-concerts-shorten-them These days, just about everybody in the classical music world has an idea about how to enliven the concert experience.Stephen Hough, the brilliant… Thu, 18 Aug 2016 16:38:34 GMT /arts-and-culture/2016-08-18/a-radical-fix-for-classical-concerts-shorten-them Steve Metcalf